Destroyer for tickets



c. o. FEIDDERN ET AL DESTROYER FOR TICKETS Filed July 11, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l W/mmss:

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9 M c. o. FEDDERN ET AL DESTROYER FOR TICKETS Filed July 11, 1933 Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE DESTROYER FOR TICKETS tion of Pennsylvania Application July 11, 1933, Serial No. 679,858

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a destroyer for tickets, or the like, particularly designed for the destruction of theatre, railroad or other tickets, or the destruction of papers such as telegram tapes or the like. It is also adapted to be used for the destruction of paper money.

In the destruction of tickets, or the like, there have been provided machines in which tickets are fed from a hopper between cutting knives adapted to shred the tickets. Such devices have had various objections among which may be cited the fact that they frequently jam by reason of the entry of too much material between the knives and they are liable to become inoperative due to the dulling of the knives.

It is an object of the invention to improve machines of this character by providing means for more uniformly feeding the stock thereto so as to minimize the possibilities of jam. Since this cannot be totally avoided, however, provision is made not only for protecting a driving motor which might become damaged if stalled with the current flowing but also to operate the machine by hand power to free the knives should jamming occur.

It is a further object of the invention to provide knives which are of a form which will more readily feed the material.

It is still another object of the invention to provide knives of a type which may be readily sharpened and maintained tight in spite of considerable wear.

These and other objects particularly relating to details of construction will be apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the preferred knife construction;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing further details of knife construction;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a tool used to sharpen the knives, the mode of operation being indicated in the figure;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section showing the relationships of parts of the mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing a safety control;

Fig. '7 is a plan view illustrating the driving devices for the knives; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of a stripping element designed to cooperate with a knife.

The machine in the preferred form shown in the drawings comprises a casing 2 to which is removably secured a table 4 braced by a strut 6 which is removably held in position by a bracket 8 and also additionally supported by a hook member It removably engaging the casing. A hopper I2 supported by the table 4 is designed to receive 5 ticket or other paper stock to be destroyed from the table, there being provided in the bottom of the hopper a conveyor belt indicated at M which may be hand driven through a crank I6. An adjustable gate [8 serves to limit the delivery of the 10 stock maintaining it at a reasonably minimum amount to prevent excessive feed and jamming of the power driven parts of the apparatus. An apron guides the stock into a hopper 22. The hopper 22 has its lower open end located above 15 a pair of knives 24 and 26. These knives are driven in opposite directions by intermeshing gears, one of them having secured thereto a gear 28 driven by a pinion 3!] which is carried by a shaft 3! to which is secured a sprocket wheel 32 driven by a suitable chain upon a motor 34.

The knife 24 comprises a hub formed integral with blades 36. The knife 26 similarly is provided with blades 38 which are interleaved with the blades 36 as indicated in Figs. 2 .and 3. The blades are provided with V-shaped circumferential grooves as indicated at 40 thus providing sharp cutting edges which engage as the blades rotate. The blades are notched as indicated at 42 whereby they are better adapted to grip and feed the paper for cutting between the knives.

By the provision of V-shaped grooves in the peripheries of the blades it is made possible to maintain the successive blades in close contact and in sharp condition so as to be effective for cutting. This is readily accomplished by the use of a swaging tool indicated at 441 which is forcibly pressed into the groove of a blade and causes the edges to be forced outwardly thus providing a suitable take-up for wear. The angle of the tool 44 is greater than that of the grooves so that this action may be obtained as shown in Fig. 4. The blades may be made, for example, of high carbon tool steel which, while it is hard enough to provide effective cutting edges capable of withstand- 45 ing great wear, nevertheless it may be swaged as indicated.

In order to clear from between the blades the shredded material after it comes through the knives, there are provided strippers indicated at 46 which present teeth projecting into the grooves between the blades closely clearing both the blades and hubs. A chute 48 receives the shredded material and leads it to a position for discharge.

Since jamming can scarcely be entirely prevented in a machine of this character without the provision of excessive driving power, the shaft 3! is provided with a squared end arranged to receive a crank which may be turned by hand to rotate the blades either forwardly or backwardly to provide clearing therefrom of jammed material. An opening 59 in the wall of the casing is aligned with the end 38 of the shaft. Swinging so as to cover or uncover this opening is a guard plate 52 formed on the lower end of a lever 54 which is pivoted at 56 and engageable by a slide 58 which may be moved by an operator. The lever 54 is provided with a fork indicated at 60 which embraces the operating handle 62 of a switch 66.

The switch M is preferably of a type indicated, for example, in Patent 1,726,233, dated August 27, 1929. A switch of this character is arranged to open the circuit of a motor such as 34 when the current has excessive values such as occur upon stalling. When stalling occurs the circuit of the rotor 34 is opened by the switch and cannot be closed until the switch handle 62 is again moved to an elf position and later brought back to an on position. This is effected directly in the present instance by manipulation of the button or slide 58. When the switch is closed and the motor running the plate 52 closes the opening 50 so that an operator will not accidentally introduce the crank. On the other hand, when the crank engages the end 33 of the shaft I the motor cannot accidentally be started. There is thereby provided a safety arrangement which not only avoids damage to the driving motor but also gives insurance against accident when an attempt is made to clear the knives. By the use of a crank the knives may be rotated either forwardly or backwardly as to most effectively provide cleaning. In the operation of the machine, the ticket or other paper material may be fed into the hopper l2 by hand from the table i. The crank it can be turned by hand to then feed the material within the hopper. The gate i3 is preferably so adjusted that with ordinary hand speed of operation the hopper will never receive too much to be properly taken care of by the knives. Instead of driving the conveyor M by hand it may, of course, be driven by the motor 34 through suitable reduction gearing to give it a proper speed of operation.

It will be clear that numerous changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, as defined in the following claims.

What we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each comprising a hub integrally carrying a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges.

2. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each comprising a hub integrally carrying a plurality of blades, the

blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the material being swaged outwardly at said edges to insure proper cutting.

3. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each comprising a hub integrally carrying a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the edges of the blades being notched to assist in feeding the paper.

4. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each comprising a hub integrally carrying a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the material being swaged outwardly at said edges to insure proper cutting, the edges of the blades being notched to assist in feeding the paper.

5. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each including a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges.

6. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each including a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the material being swaged outwardly at said edges to insure proper cutting.

'7. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each including a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the edges of the blades being notched to assist in feeding the paper.

8. A machine for destroying paper, or the like, including a pair of knives each including a plurality of blades, the blades of one knife extending between the blades of the other to provide cutting engagements, the peripheries of the blades being provided with circumferential grooves meeting the sides of the blades to form sharp cutting edges, the material being swaged outwardly at said edges to insure proper cutting, the edges of the blades being notched to assist in feeding the paper.

CARL O. FEDDERN. LEWIS L. REMENTER. WALTER C. SCOTT. 

